De bewening

The Master of the Legend of the Magdalene's Lamentation (De bewening) brings this Brussels painter's devotional expertise to the most emotionally charged moment after the Crucifixion, when Christ's body is displayed for mourning before entombment. The Lamentation's composition — the dead Christ horizontal, the Virgin and Magdalene lamenting, other disciples and holy women in attitudes of grief — had been standardized through centuries of artistic practice into a formula that could be inflected with varying degrees of emotional intensity. This master's characteristically rich color and careful surface rendering give the sacred tragedy the visual splendor appropriate to a significant altarpiece commission.

The painting demonstrates the technical conventions and artistic vocabulary of the period, with attention to composition, color, and the rendering of form appropriate to the subject.